Walker Cup Preview: Ryder Cowan, Jack Whaley & TJ Ford Break Down Lahinch
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Smylie Kaufman and Charlie Hulme preview the 2026 Walker Cup at Lahinch Golf Club with three guests: Team USA's Ryder Cowan, US Amateur champion Jack Whaley - whose victory at Merion earned him a GB&I roster spot, and Lahinch operations manager TJ Ford, who walks us through some truly stunning flyovers.
Ryder discusses matching Jackson Koivun for low-amateur honors at the US Open, what he learned studying Koivun's game, and the golf balls he forgot before his Round of 64 win over Miles Russell. Jack recaps his US Amateur run at Merion — wasp sting included — and the major exemptions that came with it. TJ takes them through Lahinch's Old Tom Morris and Alister MacKenzie design, the club's famous roaming goats, and tells an incredible stories about some caddie shenanigans on the 5th hole. Charlie and Smylie close it out with the full team rosters and their own final score picks.
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Chapters
0:00 Intro: Walker Cup broadcast schedule & preview
8:20 Ryder Cowan joins: earning his Walker Cup spot
10:20 Tying Jackson Koivun for low-amateur honors
13:21 What Ryder learned studying Koivun's game
19:09 Forgetting his golf balls before facing Miles Russell
23:20 Beating Miles Russell & Walker Cup teammates
28:39 Jack Whaley joins: US Am win & major exemptions
29:49 Merion's brutal, back-loaded finish
31:19 Wasp sting, a storm, and battling back
36:00 Walker Cup matchups & English course roots
39:10 FSU's pipeline, airport rankings & sign-off
41:40 TJ Ford joins: his game & Lahinch's history
43:50 Course design history: Old Tom Morris & MacKenzie
45:44 Flyovers begin
53:18 2019 Irish Open flashback: Rahm's 62
56:55 MacKenzie's design philosophy & the toughest holes
59:17 Lahinch's famous roaming goats & Jordan Spieth
1:03:12 New clubhouse & TJ's prediction
1:06:14 Walker Cup rosters & matchup breakdown
1:12:09 Final score predictions
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